City fans have voiced criticism about the way things were handled, particularly by chief executive Garry Cook.
This website has had a record response to Hughes' axing with well over a thousand comments from around the world.
In a vote of almost 5,000 supporters, opinions over whether the sacking was justified are split with just under 60 per cent saying it wasn't. So it is clear it is not the actual dismissal that is at issue, it is the way the club's image has been tarnished by the way it was carried out.
Here M.E.N. sports editor Peter Spencer asks the 12 questions he sincerely hopes Mr Cook will answer ASAP in an effort to help clear up the row that has gripped the football world. These questions were sent to Mr Cook on Monday night.
1: WHY did you attend the press conference when it was obvious your very presence would take the emphasis away from what could be described as an interesting appointment and certainly one that was highly newsworthy considering Mancini had barely been mentioned in speculation surrounding Hughes' future?
2: WHY was there such an emphasis on the loyalty Sheikh Mansour was going to show to Hughes and his backroom team? This was virtually every day reiterated by your increasing number of PR people. The media, including ourselves, believed this and the view was reflected in our reporting of club affairs so is it any wonder ourselves and therefore the club's supporters feel deceived?
3: ON reflection do you think the whole issue of the change in manager could have been handled better? You have been in this job long enough to know there are absolutely no secrets in football.
4: WHY did you delay the announcement until Saturday, making Hughes look foolish and many in the crowd bemused as word got round during the game against Sunderland?
5: WHAT exactly is the target in terms of points, position in the Premier League, silverware? Mancini has said HIS target is a top-four place but what would satisfy the owners particularly as Hughes believes he was achieving the target he had been set. Has the bar been raised?
6: IF Mancini doesn't do as well as Hughes - and his appointment is a huge gamble as he has never worked as a manager in this country - will he go at the end of the season? Is he really a stop-gap until there is a better chance of landing Mourinho?
7: ON reflection was it a mistake to sell Richard Dunne to aspiring rivals Villa? I accept hindsight is a great thing but his replacements have hardly been on top of their game and, while I'm on this, how close were City - truthfully - to signing John Terry?
8: IS it fair to say the scouting and assessment of possible big-money so-called superstar targets needs reviewing? I ask this because Robinho, Lescott, Toure, Adebayor and Bridge to name but five have not performed to the standard the majority of supporters expected.
9: WHY did City sign Robinho for a British record fee and was Hughes entirely in agreement? Is he going to be sold to Barcelona when the transfer window opens next week?
10: IT is obvious City need to sign a centre half next month but what else can be expected in terms of team strengthening? How much has Mancini got to spend and do you think the uncomfortable events over the last few days will hinder City's chances of landing reinforcements?
11: YOU want City to be a brand as well as a football club don't you? Well that brand is tarnished now so what can you do about it?
12: AND finally, the relationship that you have done so well to develop with the most important people of all, ie the fans, is now strained. What are you going to do to address this?
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Peter Doherty. As good as it gets. (Was it really 37 years?) , Levenshulme (23/12/2009 at 12:36)
dr.spock, sweden (23/12/2009 at 12:36)
bluezorro, Blue Moon (23/12/2009 at 12:52)
Hughes has gone now - and he is NEVER COMING BACK.
We have been through worse than this as a club, its the 2 faced journo's (that wanted Hughes sacked a couple of weeks ago) that are making it worse.
Lets just give it a rest and get behind Mancini. If we win a cup and finish 4th - we won't be moaning then.
I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida (23/12/2009 at 13:00)
Bigtree, Manchester (23/12/2009 at 13:15)
Bill, Carlisle, Cumbria (23/12/2009 at 13:16)
23/12/2009 at 12:52
Wise words. It's all water under the bridge and prolonging the witch hunt will achieve nothing.
The MEN should now be focusing on what Mancini is up to as City's new Manager in striving to bring success to our Club. At the end of the day that's what most of us fans are really interested in.
SDS (23/12/2009 at 13:17)
1) the first team squad has to many players coming to the end of there career, giggs, scholes, neville, etc how are they going to be replaced.
2) the club is massively in debt 600 million plus, what are the owners doing to reduce this.
3) how are the club going to attract a top manager to replace fergie when they have no transfer money and the squad is ageing fast.
4) united are no where near as good as they were a few years , why is that, are the players not good enough or is fergie getting passed it.
5) why has the 80m the club got for ronaldo not been given to fergie to spend on new players.
6) could the club comment on the rumours that state ,had Hughes been succesful at City he would then be offerred the united job, in other words city were being used to groom mark hughes, could this be one of the reasons he was sacked by city and indoing so denying him the chance to manage united.
and finally
7) how on earth are united going to compete with city on and off the field.
Bozzie, Manchester, England (23/12/2009 at 13:17)
The Insider, CTID. (23/12/2009 at 13:18)
I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida (23/12/2009 at 13:18)
1) If GC had not attended, the media, including MEN, would have stoked the 'conspiracy' fire even further.
2) Loyalty can only compensate so much to poor performance. And, if, as you say your reporting reflected this loyalty, why did you continually report that Hughes's job was in question ?
3) No
4) The performance of the team is first and foremost. Leaving the announcement until after the game may have lowered the quality of the teams performance. Remember Middlesborough ?
5) The bar is the same, Top 4 and 70 points. What Mr. Hughes believes does not necessarily reflect our recent results and performances.
6) He has a 3 & 1/2 year contract with targets. His progress will be reviewed just like every employee at every company, including YOU and YOUR COMPANY !
7) No mistake. Yes we were close.
8) No, it is not fair to say that. A player's performance can be affected by many issues; Manager, Coaching, Confidence, Injury, etc.
9) Robinho is a world class player and was acquired at the market price. Mr. Hughes was supportive of his purchase. No agreement with Barcelona has been reached regarding the transfer of Robinho.
10) Mr. Mancini has the full backing of the owners and board in the transfer market. As even the 'dumbest' journalist would recognize, publishing transfer intentions and fund amounts is borderline incompetence and would definitely hinder our ability to work in the window.
11) I do not agree it is tarnished, those are your words. And, when silverware is displayed at the club, let's see how brightly it shines and if it is tarnished.
12) Win trophies and be succesful ? that normally seems to work.
TOE, NEW MILLS (23/12/2009 at 13:18)
hUGHES will not lose any sleep over not having to get up in the morning and counting his vast amounts of money.
The guy was totally totally tactically inept, and i said it from day one, when we were seeing the likes of richards playing at left back for 3 games.petrov coming on and playing on the right.
My only concern is manchester city winning trophies and entertaining us.
CTID
Zagreb Exile, Zagreb, Croatia (23/12/2009 at 13:19)
We'll get over this as fans. Just I hope that the players get over it by, say, Christmas. Happy Christmas to you all from a thawed Zagreb. We just had tons of snow and now it's like Spring!
Gerald Cotter Blue Nose Faction (23/12/2009 at 13:22)
1. If Hughes's demise was an open secret why was the MEN the last to know about it?
2. Are you at all concerned about your team's apparent inability to get vexclusives from Eastlands?
3. Does this lack of insight in any way colour your coverage?
4. Why has there not been any effective analysis of City's tactical deficiencies under Hughes?
5. Do you understand the lack of support of City fans for Hughes and the Taffia?
6. Why do the media persist with this lickspittle approach to our inept former manager and his clueless management cronies?
Be interesting if you publish this
AlfaMale (23/12/2009 at 13:29)
I really don't know what the MEN is trying to achieve with this? In any case these questions in the main are stupid, irrelevant and just plain incorrect. For example, despite what you say in Q12, I am a fan and completely disagree with your question. Who says that the relationship is strained? You aren't speaking for me that's for sure. You aren't representing me, and I guess a lot of City fans.
And what about Steve Bruce asking for loyalty...didn't he leave Crystal Palace after a few months for a better job?
riggers, woodley (23/12/2009 at 13:33)
warrington blue again, warrington (23/12/2009 at 13:36)
Stan the ManC (23/12/2009 at 13:37)
1: WHY did you attend the press conference?
If Cooke had not been at the press conference he would have been accused of being a coward. He stood up like a man and took the heat off Mancini
2: WHY was there such an emphasis on the loyalty?
Sheikh Mansour has shown great loyalty to Mark Hughes and backed him over issues such as Elano, Dunne and Cassell and as well as a small matter of money which gave him the team he wanted, which was always Marks excuse from last year.
3: ON reflection do you think the whole issue of the change in manager could have been handled better?
Tell me how do you sack a manager ‘well’?
4: WHY did you delay the announcement until Saturday?
Mark Hughes is a big boy; should we have announced it before the game and risk losing 3 points?
5: WHAT exactly is the target?
Recognizing the problems and showing they’re being addressed. That’s something which was clearly not happening.
6: IF Mancini doesn't do as well as Hughes?
If the team is in decline then the fans expect it to be addressed.
7: ON reflection was it a mistake to sell Richard Dunne
Obvious judgment call from the manager as he always as had the last word on all transfers. And yes it was a massive mistake but he wanted Toure and Lescott and if Dunne had stayed he would have been an embarrassment as one of his expensive signings would have had to be dropped.
John Terry could not see himself playing under Mark Hughes
8: IS it fair to say the scouting and assessment of possible big-money so-called superstar targets needs reviewing?
Scouting is one of the issues that accelerated the sacking of Mark Hughes
9: WHY did City sign Robinho for a British record fee?
Probably wasn’t in total agreement but he thought he could get the best out of him. The new manager, like the last will have the final word on Robinho.
10: IT is obvious City need to sign a centre half next month
I’m glad it’s obvious to you, the last Manager thought it best we sell our 4 times player of the year who currently is playing centre half at our main rivals.
11: YOU want City to be a brand as well as a football club don't you?
The brand is only tarnished in the eyes of the press who are so busy looking for a story they’re ignoring the facts.
12: AND finally, the relationship that you have done so well to develop with the most important people of all, ie the fans, is now strained.
Let me tell you, as a fan I was in despair, as we all thought the owner was blind to what was going on. It’s good to know he was only showing patience and yes loyalty to Hughes. There is nothing to address because he’s shown he’s no mug and that’s so satisfying.
Craig Braveliver (23/12/2009 at 13:39)
Craig (Braveliver)
Withington
Season Ticket Holder - West Stand L3
Schrodinger's cat, in a box (23/12/2009 at 13:40)
Nathan, Gorton, GORTON (23/12/2009 at 13:41)
Fred Eyre's Stationer, Leeds (23/12/2009 at 13:43)
Manacle, London (23/12/2009 at 13:44)
City have made their statement and made their choice. No doubt things have been handled badly and hopefully they will learn from that, but there can be no benefit for the club by constantly going over old ground.
We have fantastic owners, a very talented squad and a young manager with a great track record. Now lets get on with the important business of welcoming the new manager and cheering on the team v Stoke
mike cooke (23/12/2009 at 13:48)
pete c (23/12/2009 at 13:52)
2.You may have believed the loyalty nonsense but I'm sure that the majority of fans didn't
3/4.However Hughes had been sacked Cook would have been slated by the press.
5.Why would the bar be raised? The powers that be believed City wouldn't reach 70 points, the way they were playing.
6.If there is no improvement of course he'll go
7.The way Dunne played in the last 12 months it was a good move for City and for the moment, Villa. Who cares about how close we were to signing Terry?
8.They were the best available. If Hughes had no input then he should have resigned.
9.Same as above. The press have been speculating on this for weeks and as you said earlier there are no secrets in football.
10.Don't think the events of the last few days will make any difference.
No doubt Mancini will look at the best available with possibly more chance than Hughes in attracting certain players.Why are you asking how much he has to spend? Make it up as usual.
11.Tarnished brand! What b******s.
12.What relationship are you talking about?
Mr Spencer the fans want a winning team and are not interested in all this media hypocricy about procedure and loyalty
Barney Daniels Shooting Boots (23/12/2009 at 13:53)